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A group of the world's largest investment banks has thrown its weight behind a new set of guidelines aimed at spurring investment in green bonds – a market which reopened this week with the pricing of a €350 million climate awareness bond.

Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs and HSBC have given their backing to the principles, which provide issuers, investors and underwriters with a blueprint for how to launch a green bond and details of what information is necessary to evaluate their eventual environment impact.

The announcement came on the same day that the European Investment Bank reopened the green bond market with a €350 million tap of the the climate awareness bond due November 15 2019.

The total size of the bond following the increase is €1.5 billion, making the issue the largest climate-themed bond outstanding in any currency, according to a statement.

Raymond Seager, head of SSA DCM at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, one of the lead banks on the deal, said: “EIB is setting new precedents once more with the largest green bond outstanding. A testament to the strength of their continuing commitment to this market and their standing within it.”

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The green bond market is growing, however. Issuance increased fivefold last year, according to HSBC, with $10 billion raised across the public, corporate and financial sectors. November, three issuers came to market with such instruments in the course of one week. It is hoped that the introduction of formal guidelines will help spur additional issuance and investor interest.

Suzanne Buchta, global co-head of green debt capital markets at BAML, said: "The development of a robust and liquid market for green bonds is an important progression for debt markets."

Seperately, the Institutional Investor Group on Climate Chance on Monday joined the International Climate Bond Standards Board, which supervises a program to provide investors and governments with an easy way to assess the integrity of environmental cliams for green bonds.

_--write to matthew.turner@dowjones.com or follow on Twitter at @_bmturner__